


Not Until We Are Lost

by laxit21



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, League of Assassins - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2019-09-15 19:11:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 19,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16939062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laxit21/pseuds/laxit21
Summary: Oliver set out to destroy the League of Assassins from the inside. Just before his second duel with Ra's, that plan begins to change. Several lives are altered when the duel ends the same, but has a much different aftermath.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everything from 3x12-3x22 happens almost exactly the same, but not really, because someone gives Oliver the benefit of the doubt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were a few things I wanted to tweak in the second half of Season 3 for this AU. If something isn't shown/mentioned, assume it happened the same as on Arrow.

Oliver followed Felicity out of the foundry. He wasn’t sure what to expect when he returned after his duel with Ra’s but it certainly wasn’t for her to just say ‘I’m glad you’re not dead’ and leave.When they reached the alley, she turned to face him. “’I need some air’ really means ‘I don't want to talk right now’.”

“I'm sorry.”

“For what? Maybe you could be a little more specific. For letting us believe you were dead for weeks. Or for abandoning every principle you claim to have by getting into bed with Malcolm Merlyn.” He took a step towards her, and she took a step back. “Uh-uh.”

“That's not why you're upset.”

“While you were gone, for almost a month, I allowed myself to fantasize, To dream that maybe, just maybe Merlyn was wrong. That you were alive and that you would come back and that when you did you would be different. That almost dying would give you a new perspective on life. That you would just do things differently.”

“Things between us, you mean.”

“Before you left, the last thing you said to me was that you loved me. Now you're back, and the first thing you tell me is that you are working with the man who turned your sister, a woman you're supposed to love, into a killer. Who killed a woman you used to love.” She said. “I don't want to be a woman that you love.”  
The next few days were tense between not only Oliver and Felicity, but Oliver and the whole team. In the month he was gone, the team had been forced to do things without him. They no longer fought solely for him, but for the city. Digg explained that it was the only way for them to be able to move forward. He was still shocked by the vitriol and began second-guessing himself for telling the team he was working with Malcolm so soon.

Finally telling Thea the truth about him was both freeing and aggravating. On one hand, now that Thea knew, it was one less secret he had to keep. It also meant he didn’t have to try so hard to protect her against her wishes. She knew what the threats against her might be. At the same time, telling Thea led to friction with Roy. The younger man made comments about how Oliver keeping Thea in the dark for so long probably made things worse.

Malcolm convinced Oliver to take Thea to Lian Yu to train. Thanks to him releasing Slade as part of some training exercise, the island was as deadly and inhospitable as ever. The siblings beat Slade, returned him to his cell and left the island. When Oliver returned to the foundry, Felicity was there waiting for him.

“I was hoping we could talk, about the Malcolm thing.”

“Ok.” He said warily. Felicity had made her opinion on Oliver’s alliance and training with Malcolm clear already. He didn’t want to ignore her thoughts, but he also didn’t want to retread the same ground.

“I don’t like Malcolm, I don’t trust Malcolm.” She started. “I mean, he’s Malcolm Fracking Merlyn. He was the reason you had to fight Ra’s in the first place and nearly died, so for you to return and say we’re working with him now, that kinda made me angry.”

“I understand that but-“

“Please let me finish. That being said, and after some time to calm down, I realize you aren’t doing this on a whim. I know you probably have a plan of some kind, you don’t have to tell me what it is. So, I don’t like him, and I don’t trust him, but I do trust your judgement.” She said. “And I’m sorry about how bitchy I’ve been for the last few days.”

“A year and a half ago, he wanted to kill thousands of people. Now, he’s helping us. Being angry is understandable.”

“Ok. I’m not gonna be nice to him though.” She added. “How was Lian Yu?”

“I really hate that island.” He told her.

Things were slightly less tense over the following weeks. Ra’s discovered Oliver was alive and wanted to make him his heir. When he rejected the offer, it set off a chain of events that ended with Oliver getting outed as the Arrow, arrested and Roy turning himself in and faking his death. He wasn’t happy he was left out of that particular plan, but there hadn’t been time to tell him when he was in police custody. When Roy ‘died’, Ra’s stepped things up a notch and nearly killed Thea.

Oliver finally accepted his offer, on the condition he get to use the Lazarus Pit to save his sister. Felicity, John and Malcolm accompanied him to Nanda Parbat to save Thea. After a surprisingly emotional speech from Ra’s, Felicity told Oliver how she felt, fearing it might be her only chance. They had sex and while they were still in their blissful little bubble, Oliver asked her something.

“Are you going to use it now?”

“Use what?”

“The powder you took from the priestess. I’m guessing your plan is what, drug me and sneak me out of here.”

“Maybe.” She said evasively. “Ok, yes. I don’t wanna leave you here, and I’m pretty sure Ra’s is expecting us to try something like this.”

His response was unexpected. “Do it.”

“What?”

“Drug me. it’ll wear off, I’ll refuse to leave and that will prove to Ra’s that I’m keeping my word.” Oliver still hadn’t told her what the plan was. All she knew was that his plan to beat Ra’s hinged on him gaining the man’s trust.

“If you’re sure.”

Felicity used the powder to knock him out. They tried to escape via the catacombs but were stopped by assassins. Oliver awoke and ordered everyone to stand down. He thanked Felicity and his friends for trying, but told them to leave and refused to go with them.

The next time they saw Oliver, he answered only to Al Sahim and had kidnapped Lyla. They managed to get her back but only after the League captured Nyssa. They then learned, from Malcolm and Tatsu, that as part of his ascension, Oliver would try to destroy Starling with a deadly virus. They flew to Nanda Parbat to try and stop it, only to be captured by the League. They lay dying in a dungeon while Oliver was forced to marry Nyssa.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Arrow tried to stop Ra's, Oliver duels Ra's and things start to change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where things go AU.

Felicity, Laurel, Ray, Malcolm and John made it back to Starling and were strategizing in case Oliver’s plan to defeat Ra’s didn’t work. Malcolm was still the only person who knew what that plan was and decided that meant he was now in charge. He started giving out orders, which the team went with since they’d be flying blind otherwise. Everyone was about to start their respective tasks when one of the proximity alerts in Palmer Tech went off. Oliver and Nyssa dropped down from the ceiling a moment later. Ray convinced everyone to leave Oliver, John and Felicity alone to talk.

“Nyssa looks happy. You two on your honeymoon?” She remarked. “Was that part of your plan?”

“No, it wasn’t, but I couldn’t refuse without making him suspicious or getting the rest of you killed.” He answered.

“What the hell’s going on, Oliver? Start talking!”

“The reason that I have kept Malcolm close for the past several months is because he had critical Intel on our enemy. He knows Ra's. He knows the League. And he knew that if I was appointed his successor, that meant Starling City was marked for death. The only way that we were going to defeat the League was from the inside. I had to get close enough to Ra's to find out how he was going to destroy the city and stop him.”

“You trusted Malcolm Merlyn more than you did the two people closest to you!”

“John, it wasn't about trust! It was about making sure that you and you were safe. I had to keep the circle as small as possible.” Oliver defended. “Even telling Felicity I had a plan was a risk.”

“You knew he had a plan?” John asked Felicity.

“I didn’t know what the plan was, but I trusted him enough to know he had one.” She said before turning to Oliver. “How did you expect to repair all this once you got back?”

“I didn't. I flew with Ra's and the virus to Starling and I sabotaged the plane. The plan was to kill Ra's and destroy the virus. It didn't work.”

“How did you expect to survive the plane crash?” She looked at him and the truth dawned on her. “You didn't. You never expected to have this conversation. You were planning on dying. So that was your big plan. Sacrificing yourself to take out Ra's.”

“It was the only way. At least now that it didn't work, I get a chance to tell the both of you how sorry I am.”

“Sorry won't cut it, Oliver. Not this time.” John said. “But we have bigger problems than hurt feeling and broken trust.”

“Laurel needs to contact her father. Ray needs to find a way to counteract the virus. I'm sure Malcolm told you. We don't have a lot of time.”

  
Everyone got to work on their respective tasks. When trying to find Ra’s, they came to learn that Ra’s worst enemy, Damien Darhk, was in Starling City. He wanted to kill his worst enemy using the Alpha-Omega virus. They hatched a plan to trade Darhk for the virus, but it was unsuccessful since Darhk wasn’t actually in Starling. Now, the plan was solely trying to stop the outbreak. The virus gave off low level radiation, which Felicity was trying to use to track it and pinpoint where he would use it.

Felicity and Oliver started talking while her program was running. He told her about the dream he’d been having since the first time he dueled Ra’s. He mentioned that he wasn’t sure he could defeat Ra’s and she convinced him to fight to live.

“It’s too bad Ra’s chose you of all people to take his place. As ‘valuable’ as League’s work might be, those were Nyssa’s words not mine, imagine what could’ve happened if he’d chosen someone like Malcolm instead.” She shivered at the thought. “I won’t pretend the League’s all good or all bad, they helped with Slade, but it shouldn’t be a thing in this day and age.”

Just then, Felicity’s phone beeped. She’d found the four locations and called Captain Lance to warn him and get the SCPD on board.

 

Oliver went out into the streets, intent to help stop Ra’s only to be confronted by an assassin. He told Oliver Ra’s was waiting at Starling City Dam. He arrived at the dam and the two began to duel. Lance arrived after they’d already started and learned the SWAT team had orders to shoot both Oliver and Ra’s as soon as there was a clean shot. He called Felicity to try and get someone over there to help Oliver before the police shot him.

Felicity hung up the phone and rushed over to where Ray was. “Hey, you have to get to Starling City Dam. You have to fly.”

“I'm still uploading the operating code to the nanotech. And I'm still rewriting on the fly. I--I can't leave the station. Why?”

“Oliver's in trouble. He needs your help.”

“Felicity, if I can't get the nanotech to disperse the inoculant, thousands of people in this city will die.

“What? No! Ray, Oliver!”

“It's one life against the city's. What would Oliver do?”

“Okay, then I’ll do it. I’ll go get him.” She said, rushing over to where the ATOM suit was and started taking it apart to put on.

“You can’t.”

“What do you mean I can’t?”

“I’m the only one who can fly it. Biometric security.” He told her. “Let’s hope Lance can talk the SCPD out of doing something stupid.”

 

At the Starling City dam, Ra’s had Oliver on his knees and was about to stab him with a sword. “Unlike you, thousands of honorable men will mourn my death when I leave this earth.”

“No.” Oliver stood and wrestled the blade away from Ra’s. he stabbed him in the side, just like on the mountain, before running it through his chest. “They will kneel before the next Ra's al Ghul.” He then began reciting the same prayer Ra’s had said over him during their fight on the mountain.

Ra’s removed one of his rings, the ring of the Demon Head, and handed it to Oliver. “I knew I chose well with you, boy.”  
The Demon Head fell to the ground, dead. Seconds later, the SCPD sniper fired three shots at Oliver, sending him over the edge of the dam. Lance called Felicity back and told her the victor of the duel had been shot. He was too far away to see which person it was, and the other body was missing by the time SCPD cleared the area and moved in.

 

One hundred yards downstream of the dam, an assassin fished Oliver’s unconscious form out of the water.

“My liege?” the man asked. He didn't respond but had a pulse. He turned to his companions. “The Demon Head is injured. We must get him to a secure location.”

As the assassins worked to heal Oliver, his team holed up in Palmer Tech waiting for news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver was found by the League, but what happens when he wakes up?

Oliver jolted awake. His vision was blurry at first, but after a few moments, it cleared. He looked around to see that he was in a small, sparsely decorated bedroom. He wasn’t sure how he got here. He remembered his failed attempt to crash Ra’s plan. His team, or were they his former team, went to work stopping the virus from spreading. Oliver was called to duel Ra’s once again. They fought, Oliver won. Ra’s handed the ring of the Demon Head to him just before his final breath. As soon as Ra’s hit the ground, the SCPD fired on him. He fell off the dam. He remembered these events, but they weren’t very clear in his mind. Still, the question remained, how did he get here?

His musings stopped when the door opened and someone entered the room. It was a man, dressed in the traditional League of Assassins garb. The archer sat up, anticipating trouble.

“My liege, you’re awake. Forgive me.” the man said bowing.

“Where are we? How did I get here?”

“The Demon Head, forgive me, the previous Demon Head ordered a small group of us to observe your duel on the Starling City dam. He instructed us that if you were to prevail, you would become the Demon Head. When you were shot by the Starling City Police Department and fell off of the dam, we fished you out of the water and brought you here to tend to your wounds.” The assassin explained. “You are now Ra’s al Ghul. The League is yours to command.”

While he’d been speaking, Oliver checked himself for injuries. He found none. “If I was shot, why do I not have any new injuries?”

“When the Demon Head goes into battle, it is customary for him to bring a small vial of water from the Lazarus Pit. We used it to heal you.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Approximately fifteen hours. What are your orders?”

He began thinking of his plan with Malcolm. He also remembered what Felicity had said before his final duel with Ra’s. He pondered his actions over the last few months and what they cost him. His relationship with the SCPD was in ruins. John hated him. Laurel was barely willing to work with him. Thea loved her brother, but wasn’t quite so accepting of who he had become. She’d been more loyal to Malcolm, who she hated a year ago, than she was to her own brother. Ray was a nonentity in his mind.

Felicity was the only person who trusted him enough to believe he knew what he was doing. She didn’t understand his deal with Malcolm, but respected him enough not to make her qualms too vocal. Even after Thea was nearly killed, when he chose to stay in Nanda Parbat, she trusted that it was part of the plan and didn’t try to talk him out of it. When he’d taken Lyla, she was still certain Oliver, her Oliver, was still in there. He’d only seen her faith in him waver once, and it was when they were locked in the dungeon of Nanda Parbat and exposed to the Alpha-Omega virus.

“Does the city believe Oliver Queen to be dead or alive?” The manta of ‘Oliver Queen is dead. He is alive only in the past. You are Al Sahim’ repeated in his mind as he said that. It felt more like the truth than ever before. He supposed what he’d said to Felicity, about becoming someone else, had more than a grain of truth to it.

What should he do now? He could renounce the title, go back to his team and continue living the life he’d had for the last three years. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. His team wasn’t completely his team anymore. Most of them didn’t trust him very much, if at all. The city he’d fought for, been willing to die for, had turned on him. He was now Ra’s al Ghul. He had unlimited resources at his disposal. There was potential to do some real good with that kind of power and influence.

“Missing. We retrieved your opponent’s body before the SCPD could intervene.”

So, no one knew he was alive. He didn’t have any real obligation to return to being the Arrow. The choice seemed clear, but there was one thing holding him back: Felicity.

“Take another of our number with you. Summon Nyssa al Ghul and Malcolm Merlyn. Make sure they understand this is not a request.” He ordered. The assassin bowed and turned to leave. “I was not finished. There is one more thing I require from you.”

 

At Palmer Tech, the rest of Team Arrow sat around waiting for news. They hadn’t heard from Oliver and his body hadn’t been found. They hoped, as foolish as it sounded, that somehow he was still alive. Perhaps he fell into the water and swam to safety. They suspected that if Ra’s had won, they would’ve already known. So, there were only two other explanations: Oliver won and was killed by the SCPD, or Oliver won, was shot and was out there somewhere injured and alone. Everyone was hoping for the second one.

“He survived a sword to the chest and being thrown off a cliff. He survived this.” Felicity insisted.

John didn’t want her to get her hopes up. “We would’ve heard by now if he-“

“He’s alive.”

The room fell into silence. For several minutes, no one said anything. Suddenly, Nyssa paused and spun around. Right as she stopped, a masked assassin jumped down from where he was hiding.

“Nyssa al Ghul. Al Saher.” The masked man spoke. “Ra’s al Ghul demands your presence. Immediately.”

Ra’s demanded their presence, which meant he was still alive, which meant Oliver was dead. Thea started to tear up. Laurel gasped in shock as she tried to comfort the smaller woman. Digg ran one hand down his face before he turned and punched the wall he was standing next to. Felicity buried her face in her hands and began sobbing.

Nyssa and Malcolm both walked forward expressionless. They both knew they couldn’t ignore the order, no matter how much they wanted to. Malcolm tried to catch Thea’s eye but she wouldn’t look at him. Nyssa turned to Laurel and quietly said her goodbyes before following the assassin from the building.

Once they were gone, Felicity stopped crying long enough to turn to the others. “I need to go, I- I can’t be here. I-“ She didn’t finish and practically ran from the room. She should’ve done something. She should’ve forced Ray to put on the suit, or asked Barry to speed her to the dam. She didn’t think to do anything like that, and now Oliver was dead.

Unbeknownst to Felicity, an assassin was shadowing her on her journey home. He had orders from the Demon Head, and intended not to fail his mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts? Theories?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nyssa and Malcolm get a surprise, the League's ways are (unsurprisingly) archaic, and it's time to say goodbye.

Sometime after the League assassin told Nyssa and Malcolm they’d been summoned and Felicity left, Laurel called her father. She told him that they now had proof that Oliver was dead. The captain called in a favor to have Oliver’s death certificate expedited. Due to the loss of the Queen fortune, and Roy admitting to being the Arrow, very few people cared about him anymore. Unlike his return from the island, Oliver’s death didn’t make the news and he was quietly declared dead while the city tried to recover from the attempted bioweapon attack. A funeral was planned for the next day.

 

Nyssa and Malcolm stopped outside the building where Ra’s al Ghul was holed up. All they could feel was dread and foreboding. He wouldn’t be happy about their actions, and when Ra’s was unhappy, he got creative. They doubted they’d last very long against the Demon Head before begging for death.

“Move.” The assassin escorting them said when they stopped walking. They kept walking and were led into an empty room and the door was closed behind them. It seemed Ra’s was going to make them wait. A classic intimidation tactic. Not only would making them wait cause them to ponder what was in store for them, but it also sent a message. He did not see them as being worthy of his time.

Soon, the silence became too much and Malcolm decided to break it as he looked around the room. “So, this is where I meet my end. It’s been an honor.”

“No, it hasn’t.” She countered. “Your actions caused this, and there are a million other people I’d rather die alongside than you.”

“Really? A million? I was thinking a few hundr-“

“Silence!” Oliver yelled, appearing from out of the shadows. He was dressed in his League armor, but something seemed different about him. He was carrying himself differently. Both warriors stared at him in shock as they tried to wrap their heads around his survival.

“Oliver, you’re-“

A sword was soon at Malcolm’s throat. “You will address the Demon Head by his proper title.”

“You are alive.” Nyssa remarked.

“Yes. After I defeated your father, I was shot by the police. I assume you both knew that. A member of the League found me and brought me here to heal my wounds.”

“You killed my father. I wanted to be the one to do it.”

“I know. I was willing to let you do that, but when we dueled, he didn’t give me another choice. I’m sorry for taking that from you.”

“He’s dead. That’s all that matters and thus I’m satisfied.”

Malcolm watched the exchange before deciding it was time to get down to business. He pushed the sword at his throat away and took a few steps forward towards Oliver, looking pleased with himself. He was about to get exactly what he wanted. “Her father is dead. Now, as for our agreement-”

The same assassin who moments ago had a sword at Malcolm’s throat moved closer and punched Malcolm in the face. The man went to hit him again but Oliver held up a hand. The assassin bowed and took a step back.

“Give me your hand.” Oliver told him. Malcolm held his hand out, expecting the ring to be dropped into it. Instead, Oliver twisted his hand so far that he broke his wrist. He then released Malcolm and the older archer staggered backwards, clutching his wrist. His expression didn’t change at all during the entire encounter.

“We had a deal.”

“Yes, ‘had’ being the operative word. I’ve decided not to fulfill my end of it.” He said calmly. “Did you really think, after everything you’ve done, I was just going to hand the League over to you?” He turned to the other assassin in the room and ordered him to take Malcolm somewhere else in the building, saying he’d deal with him later. Merlyn was screaming about their deal as he was dragged away. His eyes fell to Nyssa as he spoke to the others in the room. “Leave us.”

They bowed and left.

“I’m not your father. I will not force you into an unwanted and loveless marriage. Tell me what I need to do to annul our marriage.”

“You can’t. The League does not allow such things. You may be the Demon Head but you cannot change certain League laws, including that one. Our marriage can only end in death.” Nyssa said solemnly. “And I will not allow you to kill me.”

“I don’t intend to.” Oliver, Al Sahim, Ra’s, whoever he was now, he was willing to do what was necessary, to kill if need be, but he wouldn’t kill Nyssa for something her father forced her into. “I’m sorry, again, for putting you in this situation.”

“You didn’t, it was my father’s doing and he is the person I blame.” She said honestly. “May I ask you something? Why haven’t you contacted your friends? Let them know you are alive?”

He sighed before answering. “You’ve worked with them recently. What impression did you get from them, especially where I’m concerned.”

“They don’t trust you, not the way they once did.”

“No, they don’t. John hates me, Laurel’s disgusted with what I did to fight your father, Thea’s conflicted. There was only one person who trusted me enough, respected me enough, to believe I knew what I was doing. It wasn’t until I announced our wedding and locked Felicity in a room with a bioweapon that she started to doubt me.”

“Yet, she thinks you are dead like the others.”

“For the moment. I haven’t decided if I should reveal my survival to her.” He admitted.

He knew he couldn’t tell her he was alive and then leave. She might tell the team, which would lead to them trying to save him from a situation he didn’t want to escape. He wasn’t completely sure how well she’d react to him becoming Ra’s al Ghul either. Would she understand or feel betrayed? What was her reaction to his death? He needed a few more days to think things over and observe the aftermath of the previous day.

After discussing things with Nyssa, Oliver went to deal with Malcolm. His death was more drawn out than it needed to be but far quicker than the man deserved. When it was done, he ordered Malcolm’s body be left where it could easily be found by the SCPD.

 

The next morning, Thea, Laurel, Quentin, Roy, John, Ray, Felicity and Lyla stood in front of an open grave. Today was Oliver’s funeral. Thea would once again be burying an empty coffin. They were waiting for a priest to arrive when someone else walked over to them.

“Nyssa? You’re-“

“Alive, yes. It seems it was not my time.”

“And Malcolm?”

“I do not know, but I doubt he is still alive.” She answered. “I was granted permission to attend the funeral before having to return to Nanda Parbat.”

Felicity scoffed, angry. “So, that’s it? The League declares war on this city, tries to release a bioweapon and now they’re leaving like nothing happened.”

“Yes. It is the will of Ra’s al Ghul.”

The priest arrived and the funeral began. It was short and everyone felt he deserved a better goodbye. When the service was over, Nyssa approached Felicity. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“I feel like I should be saying that to you, or Thea. I mean, we weren’t exactly-I didn’t get a chance to-“

“He loved you, and you loved him. He knew.” she interrupted. “It was clear to everyone who had eyes. And you never got to say goodbye. That is something I understand.”

Nyssa, uncharacteristically, gave Felicity’s arm a squeeze before leaving the cemetery. Felicity went home, still unaware of the League assassin following her. The funeral made everything real, she didn’t know what to do now. She wasn’t sure if she should even be in Starling right now.

 

“Your funeral was very touching.” Nyssa told Oliver as she walked into the League’s hideout.

“Oliver Queen is dead, it’s only right that the city bury him. I am Ra’s al Ghul.” he said. It was quiet for several moments as Nyssa didn't share any other details. “How is she?”

“In pain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts? Theories?
> 
> I promise I have a plan for all of this.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One person finds out Oliver is alive, Felicity makes a decision about her future, and Oliver comes to a conclusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a reminder, Oliver's a little rougher around the edges now. After everything that happened with the League, he's approaching things differently. Keep that in mind.

After his funeral, Oliver began sending League members back to Nanda Parbat. He suspected pulling everyone out at once would make city officials suspicious and that would gain too much attention from the wrong people.

He sent the League back to Nanda Parbat, one small group at a time. Nyssa had gone with the first group and swore to prevent any attempted coups that may arise. Oliver remained in Starling, keeping an eye on his former team as they processed the news of his death.

The third day after his ‘death’, an assassin told him a red streak had been seen entering the city. The blur wound up in the cemetery where Oliver met him. “Oliver, you’re- how-?”

“It’s complicated, but yes, I am alive.”

“I don’t understand. Why didn’t Felicity-?”

“She doesn’t know. No one knows. I don’t want them to know I’m alive. And I’m asking you not to tell them.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m finally free of Oliver Queen. Of being the Arrow. This city turned on me, Ra’s corrupted my mission. My team doesn’t trust me. I could’ve let them know I’m alive, but I’d be signing up for more distrust and confrontations from them. Control of the League gives me a chance to do things differently, to do things better.” he explained. “I’m not Oliver Queen anymore, I’m someone else. I have no intention of being that man again. Remnants of his life wouldn’t help me move forward.”

“So, this is goodbye.”

“For now. If there is some world-ending threat. Or an alien invasion, I’m sure you’ll be able to find me.” he said before walking away. Barry sped off, returning to Central City.

 

Even with Oliver dead, the Arrow wasn’t gone. Roy, likely through some trick Felicity had pulled off, was able to return to the city. He couldn’t go by Roy Harper anymore, but he was able to return home and continue his career as a vigilante. Oliver suspected someone pointed out that the city still needed the Arrow and Roy stepped up to the plate. Most of the team were dealing with their grief by throwing themselves headfirst into their nighttime activities. More than one assassin reported to him that Laurel and Thea seemed to be harsher on criminals they encountered than they were before the outbreak. John’s change wasn’t as obvious to the casual observer, but there was a definite change.

 

The League member watching Felicity reported that she was not doing very well. She was clearly in pain and in mourning. He told Oliver that he’d heard her blame herself several times for what happened to him. She believed that, since Lance had called her about the SCPD’s intent to shoot, saving Oliver was her responsibility. It fell to her and she failed. The same assassin reported that she seemed to be distancing herself from the others. She wasn’t consciously trying to pull away, but there was definitely some distance and awkwardness between them, especially between her and John. Oliver didn’t know what to do. He wanted Felicity, he wanted to be with Felicity, but he couldn’t be with her here. Nor could he ask her to join him in running the League.

Unsure of who else to talk to, he called Nyssa. The League might be old school, but they were willing to use some technology, such as burner phones. They’d reached an understanding before she left for Nanda Parbat and had become friendlier since then.

“If it were Sara, what would you do?”

“I would let her decide for herself. She should decide if she wishes to remain in Starling or return with you to Nanda Parbat.”

“You want me to tell her I’m alive. She might say ‘no’. What’s going to stop her from telling the others I’m alive?”

“You didn’t see her at your funeral. I doubt she would refuse your offer. Even if she does, she cares enough about you to respect your desire to stay off the grid, as it were. If you ask her to keep your survival a secret, I’m sure she will.”

“You think she’d say yes. She’d let me whisk her away to Nanda Parbat, where I’m Ra’s al Ghul and you and I regretfully married. I don’t think she’d be okay with being the other woman.”

“You are Ra’s al Ghul wherever you happen to be, and it is not uncommon for the Demon Head to have more than one wife.”

“Of course it isn’t.” He remarked.

“The League is not particularly kind towards women, you were already aware of this. There’s a question you must ask yourself: are you willing to leave and never see Felicity Smoak again?”

No, he wasn’t. That fact alone made his decision much easier than he thought. Now, he just needed to figure out how to approach Felicity. He wanted to do it somewhere the others couldn’t stumble upon them talking.

 

Felicity was sitting in front of one of the computers in the team’s new space. The foundry had been raided by the police and they couldn’t return there. Keeping their lair in Palmer Tech was also a huge risk, even if Ray didn’t think so.

The team returned from patrol and John saw the look on Felicity’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“Why do you think something’s wrong?”

“Because I know that look. You want to tell us something and you don’t think we’ll like it.”

“You’re right, I- I’m leaving Starling for a little bit. I can’t- there are some things I need to figure out, and I can’t do that here. I- after last week, I need to- I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now. I don’t know if staying here, staying on the team, continuing Oliver’s mission, if that’s good for me.”

“You didn’t feel that way when we thought he was dead before.”

“Things were different then.” She’d felt this way, but not as strongly. Felicity and Oliver hadn’t admitted their feelings for each other. Nanda Parbat hadn’t happened. His death hadn’t been her fault. She also found it aggravating that John and Laurel were dead set on continuing Oliver’s mission when a week ago, they couldn’t stand looking at him. “I’m not the same IT girl I was when we met. I need some time away, to figure out who I am now.”

“When do you think you’ll be back?”

“I’m not sure.” She admitted. The way things were right now, she wasn’t sure if she was ever going to come back.

 

“My liege.” an assassin said bowing as he entered the League’s hideout.

“Why are you not at your post?” the assassin in front of him was supposed to be watching Felicity. Oliver had decided the best way to tell her he was alive was to get Felicity alone and away from the team, preferably outside of the city, and talk to her. He’d told the assassins watching her to inform him of any openings that he could exploit. He couldn’t afford to stay away from Nanda Parbat for much longer anyway. Not so soon after taking over the League.

“I have pressing news to report. Felicity Smoak is leaving Starling City.”

“Did she happen to say why?”

“It would seem Oliver Queen’s death has hit her rather hard and she needs to leave to find herself. Those were nearly her exact words.” He reported. “What are your orders for when she leaves?”

He quickly came up with a plan. If Felicity was already leaving town, her absence would take longer for anyone to notice.

 

Felicity closed her suitcase right as her doorbell rang. She was all packed and ready to go on her ‘I need to find myself’ trip. She unlocked the door and saw a middle-aged man standing on the other side.

“Someone call for a taxi?”

“Yes, that’d be me. Just give me a second.”

Everything was ready to go. She wasn’t taking much with her, and didn’t know exactly where she was going, but Bali was her first stop on her world tour. She grabbed her bag, locked her door and got into the taxi. She was all paid up on her rent, John promised he’d look after her apartment while she was gone and everything she absolutely couldn’t live without was in her bag. It was now or never.

The driver headed towards the airport, taking a different route than she was used to.

“I’m going to turn on the AC, if that’s okay.” He said from the front seat.

“Fine with me.” she shrugged.

A few moments later, she began to feel lightheaded. The driver seemed to be looking into the backseat every few seconds. The hairs on the back of her neck began to stand up. She reached for the door handle and tried to open the door, but lost consciousness.

 

The driver kept driving like nothing strange had happened until he was miles outside of Starling. He parked in an empty field where a plane was waiting.

“There were no problems, I trust.”

“None, my liege.”

“Good, then we can finally leave this city behind.” Oliver remarked. He moved over to the passenger door and pulled Felicity out of the car, carrying her bridal style. “Grab her bags. Tell the pilot we’re ready. Let’s go home.”

He hoped Felicity wouldn’t freak out when she woke up in Nanda Parbat in a few hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts? Theories?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity wakes up in Nanda Parbat and gets the surprise of a lifetime.

Felicity slowly came back to consciousness. Her eyelids felt heavy, so she didn’t try to open them and instead tried to figure out where she was based on her other senses. Wherever she was, it was quiet. Unnaturally quiet. The only noise in the room appeared to be her own breathing. She was also incredibly comfortable. The bed or couch she was lying on was just the right amount of firm and soft. It felt like she was lying on a marshmallow.

As she tried to figure out where she was, she tried to figure out how she fell asleep. Her brain was foggy, but eventually it all came back to her. She was leaving for Bali. Her taxi driver had released some kind of gas into the back of his car. She tried to escape but passed out before she could get the door open.

Her eyes shot open. She’d been kidnapped. She didn’t know who was behind it or why. She was already leaving town, so it could be days, if not weeks, before anyone realized she was missing. And Oliver was gone. She had no doubt that he could find her, but with him dead, the chances of her being found, and being found quickly, plummeted.

Adrenaline took over as she remembered what had happened. Her exhaustion and sluggishness evaporated when she realized how bad her situation was. She looked around the room and wanted to start crying.  She knew this room. Of everywhere she could’ve been taken to, of everyone who could’ve abducted her, it had to be the League. Ra’s clearly wasn’t satisfied with just killing Oliver, he’d kidnapped Felicity and was probably going to kill her too.

She heard the doorknob turn and braced herself to fight whoever stepped though the door. Instead, a woman she didn’t know entered the room carrying a tray. She nearly dropped it when she saw Felicity was awake.

“Miss, I- you are awake.” She put the tray down and shouted something in Arabic to someone in the hallway. “Eat, you have been asleep for several hours and Ra’s wanted you to be fed.”

“So he wants to kill me when I have a full stomach. Great.”

“The Demon Head has no desire to kill you.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” She scoffed. Her stomach began to rumble and she realized how famished she really was. She supposed this wasn’t the worst last meal she could’ve had. Somehow, the League knew when she was finished eating, because Nyssa came into the room as soon as she was done.

“Can I ask a favor? Will you just kill me now? You can say I attacked you and you had to kill me.”

“You wish to die?”

“No, but I know why I’m here. Your dad decided killing Oliver wasn’t enough and he’s decided to kill me too. Not sure why he dragged me all the way out here, but whatever. My point is, I don’t wanna die, but if I have to, I don’t want to die at the hands of your father. He’s probably got this whole long, drawn-out death in mind for me and I’d rather not die like that.”

“You were not brought here to die.” she said plainly.

“Then why am I here?”

“It is the will of Ra’s al Ghul.” A voice said from the doorway. Felicity instantly shut her eyes. It wasn’t him. It couldn’t be him. He died, so there was no way she was hearing his voice. “Look at me.”

“Great, now I’m losing my mind.” She muttered. She heard footsteps approach her. She felt Nyssa step away from her. A warm hand reached out and caressed her cheek.

“Please, look at me.” Oliver’s voice said.

She opened her eyes. “You- you’re alive. How?”

“I survived being shot by-“ Felicity pulled her arm back and slapped Oliver across the face. Suddenly, two assassins had their swords drawn and looked ready to attack her. “Hold!” The assassins didn’t move an inch. “Do not touch her. You will not harm her in anyway. You’re dismissed.”

“Yes, my liege.” both men said bowing.

“So, the League found you and- wait, why did they just call you ‘my liege’?”

“I am no longer Oliver Queen, I am now Ra’s al Ghul.” he stated. “When I killed Nyssa’s father, I became the Demon Head.”

“You’re the one who summoned Nyssa and Malcolm. The morning after you- after the duel.”

“Yes.”

“’Why? Why wouldn’t you tell us you were alive? Why would you make Thea, and me and John go through that?”

“Because no one knew I was alive. I didn’t have to go back to my life if I didn’t want to. And I didn’t want to. I was finally free of being Oliver Queen.”

“So, that’s it then. After everything that’s happened over the last year, everything we’ve been through, you were just gonna leave like nothing happened. Walk away from Oliver Queen, the Arrow, the team, me. Just whoosh. If that’s true, why am I here? Why did you go to the trouble of kidnapping me?”

He tentatively took a step closer to her, wanting to touch her, but suspecting she might hit him again. “I wanted to leave Starling City and the Arrow behind, I didn’t want to leave you behind. I couldn’t keep the truth from you anymore. I didn’t want you to keep blaming yourself for my death.”

“So, you brought me here to tell me you’re alive.”

“Yes, and to ask you to join me, to stay here with me.”

“I’m not exactly League of Assassins material.”

“Well, I say you are.” He responded. “It’s up to you. You can stay here with me, we can- things can be different between us. If you decide not to, I’ll understand and you’ll never see me again.”

“I’ll never see you again?”

“No, Oliver Queen is dead, he is gone. Only his memories and the way he felt about you remain. I can never be that man again, nor do I want to. I want you, I want to be with you, but I can’t go back, even if that means this is the last time I’ll ever see you. Stay or go. I wanted to give you the chance to decide for yourself.”

“So, if I leave, I’ll never see you again. If I stay, I’ll never see them again.” She summarized. “You could’ve brought Thea here to join you. You could’ve made this same offer to anyone. Why me?”

He wasn’t ready to talk about his feelings towards the team or Thea. It was too complicated and he didn’t bring Felicity here to talk about them. “Because I love you. I loved you when I was Oliver Queen. I loved you when I was Al Sahim and now, as Ra’s al Ghul, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He smiled, it was the first genuine smile he’d given in a long time. it didn’t last long, as a thought occurred to him. “I need you to understand what you would be getting into if you decide to stay. As I said, Oliver Queen is dead. I am the Demon Head, and he’s a much harder man to love.”

“We’ll see about that.” She challenged. She wanted to be with Oliver. It wasn’t a hard choice to make. “Please tell me your fake taxi driver brought my bag and didn’t just dump it in a river.”

Felicity knew she had no idea what she was getting into. Oliver knew things wouldn’t be this easy for long. Still, they were together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts? Theories?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nyssa reveals a few things to Felicity, Felicity's given one last opportunity to change her mind and trying to protect Starling means the team is too distracted to notice certain things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, reminder: Oliver's not the Oliver we all know. He's leaning a little more towards Al Sahim or the Hood than anyone wants to admit.

**Nanda Parbat**

Oliver left Felicity’s room after they talked for a little while longer. He had League business that demanded his attention. He left two guards outside of her door and gave them strict orders to only let himself or Nyssa into the room.

Felicity sat on her bed reeling. Oliver was alive. He’d become Ra’s al Ghul. He decided to walk away from his life as the Arrow, as Oliver Queen and lead the League. And he wanted her to join him. While she was wrapping her head around everything, Nyssa came back into the room.

“I hope you realize what you have done.”

“I do.”

“I doubt that. He is not the man you knew. He has been changed by his ‘training’ underneath my father. He’s been changed by the healing waters of the Lazarus Pit. Soon, I suspect you will learn how deep this change runs.”

“Well, I suppose if push comes to shove, I can change my mind and go home.”

“You can’t. You were given a choice, you made it. His offer was your one chance to leave and you rejected it.” she told her. “You’re committed to the League of Assassins now.”

“So, I’m stuck here? No, Oliver wouldn’t-“

“Yes, Oliver wouldn’t. But the man you spoke to isn’t Oliver, not anymore. He is Ra’s al Ghul, and he will not let you go.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Believe me, don’t believe me, it doesn’t matter. You’ll see for yourself soon enough.” She remarked. “A servant is on their way with your luggage. Dinner will be in two hours.” As she said that, there was a knock on the door and the woman who’d seen Felicity came into the room carrying a purple suitcase.

Both the servant and Nyssa left the room. Felicity opened her bag and began looking through it. From what she remembered from last time, the door in the corner led to a full bathroom with a large tub. She pulled out her toiletries and decided to freshen up a little bit. She didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious and wanted to feel clean. She changed into a simple blue dress she’d packed and began exploring the room. she didn’t want to step out into the hallway and run into any assassins who maybe didn’t get Oliver’s memo, so she looked around the room. There were a few books scattered around the room. She didn’t look at anything other than the titles before moving onto something else. Two doors led out to a patio which looked over the western edge of the Hindu Kush. As far as her eyes could see, there were mountains. It made her feel peaceful, and tiny. She was enjoying her view when there was a knock at the door. An assassin stepped into the room and bowed.

“I’m to escort you to the east wing. The Demon Head is waiting.”

“Ok.” she said, following him out of the room.

They walked past several others, none of whom made eye contact with her or spoke. she couldn’t tell if the compound was laid out like a maze or the assassin was taking her on a convoluted route, but it took the pair a significant amount of time before they reached a set of double doors. The man opened the door and stepped out of Felicity’s path. Feeling awkward and unsure of what else to do, she moved inside the room and the door closed behind her.

The room almost looked like a sitting room. Two couches sat on opposite sides of a table that was placed in front of a fire place. A shelf of books sat alongside one wall. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve called it cozy. Oliver was standing in front of the fireplace, with his back to her. He turned around when the door closed.

“Oliver-“

“Oliver Queen is dead.” He said quietly.

“What do-?”

“I told you I was no longer that man, that I could never be him again. I thought you understood.” He said in a loud, sure voice. There was an edge to his voice that she wasn’t used to. “Do not call me by his name.”

She remembered what Nyssa said. He was different now. The experience changed him. She steeled herself and met his gaze. “Then what should I call you?”

“Al Sahim’s fine. I won’t make you call me Ra’s al Ghul.” He told her. “We need to discuss what will happen over the next few days.”

“Okay.”

He sighed. “I don’t think you fully understand what you agreed to. This is not a fairytale, there won’t be a happy ending for us. This is your last chance to walk away. Say the word and you’ll be free to leave Nanda Parbat to live a happy, normal life.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Very well. Tonight, there is a banquet being held honoring my ascension to Ra’s. As it draws to a close, I will announce our engagement.”

“Aren’t you still married to Nyssa?”

“I am. The League of Assassins does not believe in divorce and the only way to end the marriage is if one of us kills the other. I don’t want to kill Nyssa, and if she kills me, she’d forfeit her life. However, its not uncommon for the Demon Head to have multiple wives.”

“So, you’d be married to both of us.”

“By League law, yes. However, she’s my wife in name only. We were both coerced into it. You are the woman I love, you are the woman I want to marry. You would be my true wife.”

“Well, I guess that counts as a proposal.” She remarked. “Except you didn’t really ask.”

“You can’t stay here if you aren’t bound to the League in one form or another. Marrying me is the simplest way. The alternative is for you to join the League as an assassin-in-training, forced to undergo the same brutal training I did. So, will you marry me?”

“Yes. What happens after the announcement?”

“We’ll marry within the following few days. You’ll stop being Felicity Smoak and start to become someone else.”

Just then, a servant knocked on the door and announced the banquet was about to start. Oliver offered Felicity his arm and led her into the hall. Most of the meal passed in a blur. Eventually, Oliver stood up and made the announcement that he was marrying Felicity. An ominous feeling came over her as he spoke. They were past the point of no return now. She briefly wondered how long it would take anyone in Starling to realize she never made it to Bali. 

* * *

 

**Starling City**

“Did Felicity land yet?” Roy asked John. “She was gonna call after she landed, but she hasn’t.”

“I haven’t heard from her, but her flight was on time. The airline said its landed. I’m sure she’s fine. She’ll text us after she’s gotten settled into her hotel. She needed time away from the city, I say we give her that.”

Just then, Thea and Laurel came into the new lair. “Any news on the series of robberies?”

“None, unfortunately.” Ray told them.

For the next week, the team was focused on the recent thefts taking place. The culprits seemed to vanish like Ghosts as soon as the robberies were done and they had no luck tracking them or predicting the next target. It wasn’t until Lyla asked John over dinner how Felicity was doing that he realized no one had heard from her since she left Starling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts? Theories?  
> \-------------------------------------  
> -For convenience, I'm still going to refer to Oliver and Felicity as Oliver and Felicity, even though they have different names now.  
> -I'm not trying to paint the team or anyone in a bad light. Yes, they didn't realize Felicity hadn't contacted them, but she did say she needed a break. That, combined with an increase in crime, meant worrying about her fell to the back burner.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team learns something troubling and Felicity and Oliver's relationship goes to a new level.

**Nanda Parbat**

After Oliver made his announcement, Felicity was escorted back to the room where she woke up. He’d told her there were things related to their wedding that he needed to handle. She could tell he wasn’t telling her the whole truth.

The next morning, she woke up when someone knocked on her door. Nyssa came into the room a few seconds later. The black-haired woman looked at Felicity with complete detachment before asking if she’d received a tour of Nanda Parbat. The blonde hadn’t and told her as much. She told her to dress and she’d show her around.

It was clear that Nyssa had a very strong opinion about the situation Felicity was now in and was trying very hard to keep her thought to herself. This worried Felicity. Did marrying Oliver make them enemies? What were the implications of him taking another wife? Was something going to happen after the wedding that she didn’t know about?

Wanting answers, Felicity changed quickly and left her room to find Nyssa. She spent most of the tour telling Felicity what different areas were used for with nothing but pure boredom in her voice. It wasn’t until they were walking around the gardens, the existence of which shocked Felicity since Nanda Parbat didn’t seem like a place anything would grow, when her voice changed.  

“I would like to speak plainly with you.”

“Okay….is this the part where you threaten to kill me?”

“Why would I want to kill you?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know how you feel about it, me marrying him I mean. Or what that means for you.”

“I couldn’t care less about what he does.” She said. “And I am hoping your marriage will have nothing to do with me at all.”

“Ok, so we aren’t rivals and you don’t hate me.”

“No, although I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the servant expect things to get catty between us. We are sharing a husband after all, or so they believe.”

“Ok, so you don’t hate me and you don’t want to kill me. Why do you want to talk to me?”

“You weren’t raised here; I was. There are some customs you aren’t aware of and I’m certain he hasn’t told you anything about them.”

“No, he hasn’t.” she admitted.

“I thought as much. I suppose, given the situation, we should begin with wedding traditions.” Nyssa said, taking a seat on a stone bench in the garden. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but the wedding is in two days.”

“No, I was not. I haven’t seen Oli- Al Sahim since last night.”

“Unsurprising. Not everyone is pleased with how recent events have unfolded. First, you should know there aren’t any practices you might see as…..truly bizarre or barbaric.”

“Ok, so he’s not gonna brand me during the ceremony.”

“No.” Nyssa didn’t mention that the branding ceremony was being delayed given the situation. “They’re ancient traditions, and tradition is sacred to us.”

“Tell me more.” 

* * *

 

**Starling City**

After realizing he hadn’t heard from Felicity since she left the city, John began to panic. He knew Felicity was off finding herself and might not be calling him every day, but the radio silence from her end was concerning.

He brought it up to Roy, Thea, Laurel and Ray and they all admitted to not having spoken with her either. Ray called Donna, who hadn’t heard from Felicity either. The pair weren’t close, but Felicity had told Donna she was going on a trip, so the phone call didn’t send her into a panic like Ray thought it might. Still, no one knew where Felicity was.

They tried tracking her phone, but the trace came up empty. Laurel suggested she might’ve made her phone untraceable as a precaution while Roy suggested that it might have been turned off. The situation still set off alarms in Digg’s head, so he asked Lyla for a favor.

Felicity’s system couldn’t track her phone, but ARGUS’s tech probably could. The search came up empty, but Lyla kept digging. Two days later, Lyla showed up at the new lair right before patrol with a serious look on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

“I need all of you to sit down.” Lyla said. She refused to say anything else until everyone was seated. “Felicity’s plane landed in Bali but she wasn’t on it. I did some digging and-“

“And?”

“I looked over every security camera at Starling International. I checked flight manifests, passport scans, everything. She didn’t get on the plane. Felicity never even made it to the airport.” 

* * *

 

**Nanda Parbat**

Felicity took a deep breath right as the doors in front of her opened. This wasn’t the wedding she expected, or one she’d ever wanted, but it was her wedding nonetheless. She stepped forward and two rows of assassins unsheathed their swords and held them up, creating an arch of sorts. Steeling herself, she walked through them towards the alter where Oliver waited. Next to him was the priestess who brought Thea back using the Lazarus Pit.

Nyssa was standing off to the side, focusing intently on the wall behind the altar. She’d told Felicity days ago that, as his wife, she had to attend their wedding. She had to be present, but that didn’t mean Nyssa had to watch or pay attention, so she stood, staring at the wall and internally cursing her father.

Felicity reached Oliver and the priestess began to speak. “There is no vow more sacred, nor covenant more holy than the one between man and woman. With this ceremony, your souls are bound together, forever joined. You will never be free. You will always be held captive by your love for each other. We offer blessings. The union is sealed.”

The assassin assembled behind them all repeated one of the words the priestess had said. The couple turned and Oliver led Felicity from the room. His soldiers bowed to them as they passed. All Felicity could think as they walked out of the room was that her wedding felt an awful lot like a funeral.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts? Theories?


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the wedding, Felicity and Oliver talk alone for the first time and Oliver asks someone for an unexpected favor.

As soon as Oliver and Felicity left the temple where their wedding was held, he let go of her arm. He turned to two men who were standing at attention nearby and gave them orders in Arabic. He looked back at Felicity. “There is something I must take care of. They will escort you to your new chambers.” He spun around and walked away.

“Seriously? You’re gonna make me spend my wedding night alone?” She shouted after him. She thought she saw one of the assassins’ shoulders shake, almost like he was laughing at her, but when she turned to look at him, he was still. “Well, are we going or what?”

The one man turned and walked down the hallway, while the other held back, waiting for Felicity to move first. Silently, they walked through the compound until they stopped in front of a door. Felicity opened the door to find a lavish and ornate bedroom on the other side of it. The two maids who helped Felicity prepare for her wedding were inside and moved over to her when she entered.

“May we assist you, my lady?” One of them asked.

“What? Yeah. Yes, please.”

They helped her out of her dress and into a robe, before leading her over to a vanity. No one spoke as they removed the various pins from Felicity’s hair or removed her make-up. As they worked, the tensions of the last few days started to hit Felicity and her eyelids started to feel heavy. When one of the women started to brush her hair out, she started to doze off.

“I don’t know who she is fooling.” One of the women said in heavily accented English. “She will never survive here.”

“The Demon Head believes otherwise. He would not have brought her here, wed her, if he believed she would die.”

“He is being foolish as well. Clinging to the life he left behind when he started down this path.” She scoffed. “She’s out of her depth.”

“It is not our place to judge. Nor should we be commenting on matters that do not concern us.” The second woman said, as she finished brushing the knots out of Felicity’s hair. She shook her shoulder gently, to wake her up. “My Lady, we are finished. Will you require anything else?”

“Um, no. Thank you. You may go.” The two women curtsied and left the room.

 

Oliver walked away from Felicity, but heard what she yelled after him. It took all of his self-control not to turn around and return to her. He would be spending his wedding night with her, if she would have him, but there was a matter he needed to see to first. He found the person he was looking for in the training yard as he expected to. They heard him coming and turned to face him.

“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with your wife, celebrating your marriage?”

“Yes, I should be, but I needed to speak with you first.”

“And what is so important that you would choose now to do it of all times, husband?” Nyssa countered. “Unless you regret the situation you now find yourself in.”

“I do not, and will not, regret marrying Felicity.” He growled. “But I’m aware of the short-comings of my own plan. And I’ve come to ask for your help.”

“With what?”

“I want you to train her to fight.”

“What?”

“She is the smartest woman I’ve ever met, and over the last three years, I’ve seen how strong she is. Neither of those qualities mean much here if she cannot defend herself. I want you to train her.”

“I thought one of the reasons you chose to wed her was because she wasn’t a warrior.”

“I’m not asking you to turn her into a master assassin. I’m asking you to train her so that she can protect herself. You may hate me, but I don’t think you hate her. And if history is anything to go by, you’re an excellent trainer.” He said.

“Fine, I will do this. I’m not doing it for you, however, but for her. And because Sara spoke so highly of her.” Nyssa conceded.

Oliver nodded and went back into the compound. He walked to Felicity’s new room, which was of course his room and ordered the men standing guard to leave. He took a deep breath and entered the room. Felicity was laid out on a chaise near the bed and looked up when the door opened. He saw that she had changed out of her wedding dress and nearly groaned when he saw that she was only wearing a robe.

“Hey.” She said awkwardly.

He didn’t speak for several moments as he removed his weapons and laid them on a table in the corner. He also shed the outer lair of his clothing and removed his boots. When he was dressed in just a black tunic and matching pants, he spoke.

“Good evening, my wife.” He said walking over to her.

“Yeah, because we’re married now. You’re my husband, I’m your wife. That whole wedding ceremony kinda made that dream of mine a reality, didn’t it?”

“I know our wedding was not the one you envisioned as a child…” He began to say as he sat down.

“I didn’t think about it much as a kid, but it wasn’t- I mean- I did get the groom I was dreaming about.”

“I am not Oliver Queen.”

“No, you’ve made that very clear. But you aren’t as different from him as you seem to think.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know, I can’t really explain it.” She shrugged. “If you were less like him, you wouldn’t have given me the offer that you did. You also wouldn’t have tried to convince me not to accept your proposal. And then there’s the other thing.”

“What other thing?”

She laid a hand on his thigh. “If Oliver wasn’t in there somewhere, your body wouldn’t be reacting to me the way that it is.” Her eyes focused on the noticeable bulge in his pants. “I take it I won’t be spending my wedding night alone.”

“No, you won’t. That is, unless you wish for me to leave.” He said as he studied her face. She didn’t appear uncomfortable and didn’t tell him to leave, so he leaned over to kiss her. “My apologies for being so distant in the last few days. It is customary.”

“I know. Nyssa explained it to me when she told about some of the other customs.” She said. “What happens now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re the Demon Head, I’m Bride of the Demon, well Nyssa and I both are, technically. What happens next?”

“Now, you learn the ways of the League, while we both adjust to our new lives here.” He told her.

He hoped over the coming weeks she would get to see the real Al Sahim. He hoped she would accept him, in spite of some changes in his personality. She hoped that Al Sahim wasn’t as removed from Oliver Queen as he seemed to think he was. She understood that he had changed and couldn’t be the Arrow again, but she hoped some of the parts of Oliver that she loved were still in there.

The next day, Nyssa began to train Felicity and Felicity took on the name Adila al Ghul. 

* * *

 

**Starling City**

When they learned Felicity had never even boarded the plane to Bali, they began to panic. The team had a lot of enemies. Oliver’s actions when he joined the League had made them many more. The list of people who could’ve abducted Felicity was rather long, and she’d been missing for over a week. Their enemies could’ve done a lot of bad things to her during that time, and they had no way of knowing if she was even alive. What if they were already too late?

“She took a cab to the airport, right?” Ray asked.

“Yeah, I mean, that’s what she told me when I volunteered to drive her.” Laurel said. “And nothing at her house seemed out of place, so she wasn’t attacked there.”  
“That means she vanished somewhere between her house and the airport. We need to find that driver.” John said.

“I’ll see what the city’s surveillance cameras picked up.” Ray said as he walked over to where Felicity’s computers were set up.

After scrubbing through millions of frames of video footage, Ray managed to only find a handful of images of the car that picked Felicity up. He found one single frame of the driver, but his face was partially obscured. Ray still ran facial recognition on it, but he knew it would take several hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts?


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity begins training with Nyssa, while Team Arrow's search hits an obstacle.

**Nanda Parbat**

The day after Felicity’s wedding to Oliver, she woke up when she felt Oliver move her arm off of him and get out of bed. She opened her eyes and saw that the sun hadn’t risen yet.

“What are you doing up so early?”

“This is when I always get up. Training begins at dawn.” He said. “You should probably start to get ready as well.”

“Or, we can stay in here and continue what we were doing last night.” She proposed suggestively. She was pretty sure that Oliver would rather stay and have sex with her than go spar against a bunch of assassins. “I mean, its our honeymoon after all.”

“The Demon Head does not take honeymoon.” He said, as he continued dressing. “I was serious about you getting dressed. Nyssa will be here soon.”

“Why is Nyssa coming?” Felicity got out of bed and started looking around for clothes. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to wear. She didn’t know what they were doing and wasn’t sure what clothing as appropriate.

“She’s going to train you.”

“Train me to do what? Fight?” She said skeptically. “You’re not serious.”

“Dead serious.” He said, letting out a chuckle at his own little joke.

“Um, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not exactly a warrior.” She used one hand to gesture to her entire body.

“I’m aware of that. That’s why Nyssa’s going to train you.” He reasoned.

“And even though you’re now the Demon Head and this is the League of Assassins, I didn’t sign up for this.” She said, raising her voice.

“You were given a choice: stay or go. You chose to stay, so yes, you did sign up for this.”

“I signed up to be with you, to marry you. I didn’t sign up to be an assassin and if you think I’m gonna be okay with killing people, you and everyone else here have another thing coming.” She shouted.

“You don’t need to yell.” He said. “And you aren’t training to be an assassin. I just want you to be able to defend yourself.”

“Good.” She said, crossing her arms. By now, she was wearing a shirt loose enough for her to fight in and matching pants that were similar to yoga pants.

Oliver didn’t want to say it, but Felicity looked very good in work-out clothes. Her pants accentuated her ass, which made him want to cancel training and spend all day in bed with Felicity. He knew he couldn’t do that though, and maintained his focus. “I might stop by later to see how your training session goes.” He told her.

Something about the way he talked about seeing her later made her angry. “Is this what we’re gonna do now? We spend all our time apart, and only see each other at night? Because I know you aren’t ‘my Oliver’ and I don’t know everything about the League’s ways, but I am your wife, I want to see my husband regularly and not just when the sun goes down.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Aren’t you the big boss around here? Can’t you make it that easy?”

“I’m trying to ease you into things. There’s a lot that’s changing in your life. I don’t wanna push you too far, too quickly.”

“I adapt easily.” She challenged.

Before he could respond, the door opened and Nyssa came in. “Oh, you’re still here, husband. Are you ready to begin Adila?”

“What do you just call me?” Felicity asked.

“Adila, that is your name within the League.” The darker haired woman answered.

Felicity turned to face Oliver and raised an eyebrow. “Just as I abandoned Oliver Queen to become Al Sahim, you have abandoned Felicity Smoak and shall now be known as Adila al Ghul.”

“I figured out that much when Nyssa said its my name. What does it mean though?”

“Fair, honest and just.” He told her nervously. “It seemed fitting.”

“The recruits are waiting in the training yard.” Nyssa said. “And I’d like to train her without an audience. I don’t need you backseat teaching.”

Oliver threw Nyssa an annoyed look before leaving. “It’s driving.” Felicity corrected. “The phrase, it’s backseat driving.”

“You Americans have such strange and nonsensical phrases.” She said rolling her eyes. “Follow me. There is a private training room we can use.”

“Ok. I should probably warn you, I’ve got like one and half self-defense lessons under my belt, so just, be aware of that.” Felicity said. She didn’t want Nyssa to overestimate her abilities. “Any skills you might have, I don’t have them.”

“I doubt you are completely incapable of defending yourself.” Nyssa assured her. “And if you lack as much skill as you seem to think, we will handle that.” By this point they’d reached the room they were heading to.

“Great, that’s a relief. I was kinda worried we’d start and you’d just demolish me.”

“Oh, this will be difficult and you will be sore, make no mistake, but the purpose is for you to learn, not to embarrass you.” She said. “Now, get into a defensive stance.” 

* * *

 

**Starling City**

Ray called the team over to his computer when the facial recognition program was finished running. The cab driver who was supposed to take Felicity to the airport was their one lead to finding her. They hoped he’d be easy to identify and could, with some persuasion, tell them what had happened to Felicity.

“Ok, looks like we got a match.” Ray said once they were gathered around his computer. “Guy’s name is Tarou Fukui.” He hit a few keys. “Oh.”

“Oh, what oh? Why are you saying ‘oh’?” Digg asked.

“Fukui, no one’s seen him in ten years. He just vanished.”

“Vanished like Oliver did, or vanished like Maseo Yamashiro did?”

“The second one.”

Thea studied the photo, Fukui’s driver’s license picture. “I’ve seen him before.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know, it’s- its fuzzy in my memory. Maybe after I left with Malcolm.”

She knew she’d seen him somewhere before, she just couldn’t figure out where. 

* * *

 

**Nanda Parbat**

“Ow.” Felicity deadpanned as she lost again. “Can I just stay here? I’ll just stay here, on the floor, and die.”

“That isn’t an option.” Nyssa said, helping her up. “Let’s try again.”

“Can we just- can I just have a minute? I don’t exactly have a ton of stamina. Cardio isn’t part of my routine.”

“Very well.”

Felicity leaned against the wall and started to catching her breath. Nyssa walked over to her and handed her some water. “Thanks.”

“How are the lessons going?” Oliver asked from behind them. He’d snuck into the room a few moments ago and stood leaning against the doorway.

“Not great.”

“That is a lie.” Nyssa cut in. “We are focusing on building a strong foundation at the moment, but Adila believes she’s worse than she is at defending herself.”

“You’ve beat me how many times so far?”

“I also have years more experience than you do.” She reminded her before turning to Oliver. “Did you need something?”

“Nothing specific. I wanted to see how it was going and I was hoping I could steal your pupil away for a little while.”

“Be my guest. I’ll find you later, sisterwife.” Nyssa said, leaving the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts?
> 
> We might not see Digg, Laurel, Roy and the others for the next few chapters, just a FYI.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ra's and Felicity talk about how she's adjusting and Digg gets a surprise.

“Did you need something?” Nyssa asked Oliver.

“Nothing specific. I wanted to see how it was going and I was hoping I could steal your pupil away for a little while.”

“Be my guest. I’ll find you later, sisterwife.” Nyssa told Felicity as she left the room.

Oliver and Felicity were left staring at one another in the room. “So, what did you wanna talk about?” She asked after several moments of silence.

“Come, I want to show you something.” He said, taking her hand and leading her out of the room. They wound up on a balcony that looked out over the mountains to the east of Nanda Parbat. “I wanted to see how you’re doing, how you’re adjusting.”

“Well, I just got my ass kicked like fourteen times in a row.”

“You’re still learning. I didn’t become the Arrow or Al-Sahim overnight. Nor did Nyssa become the warrior she was overnight. It takes time and patience.”

“I’m not super patient, and I’m pretty sure tomorrow I’m gonna be cursing both of you when every muscle in my body hurts.”

“Growing pains are unavoidable.” He responded. “Aside from learning to defend yourself, how are you adjusting?” He didn’t want to admit it, but he was nervous. He knew this was a big change for her, but he hoped if adjusting wasn’t too difficult, she wouldn’t regret her decision or hate him.

“It’s still weirding me out when people bow whenever I enter the room. Oh, and apparently one of the maids think I’ll last that long. Other than that, no complaints.”

“She said you wouldn’t last to your face?” He asked angrily.

“They both thought I’d dozed off. Started talking about how I was out of my depth and fooling myself.”

“Which one was it?” He asked.

“Oh, no. I’m not gonna tell you that. I don’t need you to rush off to punish her and defend my honor or whatever.”

“She disrespected you.”

“And I’ll deal with it myself. You stepping in will only prove her right. I’ll handle it, after I’ve proven her wrong.”

 “As the Demon Head, I am the one responsible for-“

“I know. You’re the big, scary Demon Head, but this is my fight.” She told him confidently.

“If you’re sure.”

“I am. Even if I like it when you get all growly.” She said before she looked out at the horizon. “You know, I didn’t realize it the first time, but the view here isn’t so bad.”

“You said the same thing about Lian Yu.”

“Places can be beautiful aesthetically but ugly overall.” She shrugged. “On Lian Yu, I almost got blown up. Here, well, I don’t need to tell you what happened.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Can I ask you a question I’ve been scared to ask until now?” He nodded. “So, your cabbie driving assassin took me before I could make it to the airport and fly to Bali. Where does everyone think I am?”

“Most likely? Bali. By the time he changed course, anyone following the taxi on traffic cameras would assume he had dropped you off at the gate as expected.”

“We didn’t make it anywhere close to the airport. And they haven’t heard from me since I left.”

“You think they’ll worry something has happened to you.”

“Most people don’t just disappear off the face of the Earth. If they don’t hear from me, they’ll start looking. They might even get desperate and go to ARGUS for help.”

“Asking Amanda Waller won’t do them any good. I’m curious why you’re bringing this up though.”

“I was just wondering. You know how I feel about mysteries.” She shrugged. “And I was gonna suggest, if you didn’t have a plan beyond getting me here, that we create a fake story. Kinda like what happened with Thea when she was with Malcolm.”

Malcolm training Thea was such a well-kept secret for so long because Thea kept sending pictures to Oliver. She responded to his messages. She appeared to be traveling, but didn’t drop off the face of the Earth entirely.

“You may be right.” He conceded. “You should get back to training, and I should-“

“Get back to secretly running the world?”

“I wouldn’t do something so vital without you there to advise me.” he said in a playful tone.

“Good. First new rule, all peanuts, cashews, almonds, etc are outlawed because they could kill me.” She responded. “See you tonight?”

“Probably sooner. I can’t stay away from you for that long.” They walked back towards the room Felicity had been training in. Nyssa was already there waiting. Oliver kissed Felicity goodbye and left the room. He started thinking about what Felicity had said in regards to his former team. Perhaps her vanishing wasn’t the best idea. 

* * *

 

**Starling- Three Days Later**

The remaining members of Team Arrow were at their wits end. They had a new threat in town, a group of bank robber who vanished as soon as the crime was over. On top of that, they were no closer to finding Felicity. Even after making a deal with Waller to help find her, in exchange for a ‘favor’ later, they had nothing. Everywhere they went, they hit a dead end. Barry offered whatever help he could, but since they had no idea where to look, it wasn’t much help.

“What about Nyssa?” Laurel asked.

“What about her?” Roy responded.

“She might help us.”

“Nyssa was ordered to return to Nanda Parbat. I don’t think Ra’s is gonna let her leave any time soon. Especially not to help us.” John pointed out.

“Uh, John?”

“What is it Ray?”

“Felicity’s calling you.” Ray said, holding the phone out to him.

John practically snatched the phone out of Ray’s hands in an effort to answer the call before it went to voicemail. “Hello?”

“Hey John.”

“Felicity? It’s good to hear from you. Where have you been? We’ve been worried about you.”

“It’s kinda a long story.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think is going on? What will Felicity say? Is it really even Felicity on the phone?


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Digg talks to Felicity, and Nyssa and Oliver discuss something that's been bugging him.

**Starling**

“Felicity’s calling you.” Ray said, holding the phone out to him.

John practically snatched the phone out of Ray’s hands in an effort to answer the call before it went to voicemail. “Hello?”

“Hey John.”

“Felicity? It’s good to hear from you. Where have you been? We’ve been worried about you.”

“It’s kinda a long story.” She answered.

“You’ve been missing for weeks. You’re gonna need to do a lot better and a lot more explaining than ‘it’s a long story’.” He said. “Where are you? Are you okay? Did something happen?”

“I’m fine, nothing happened. I’m in Nepal.”

“Nepal? You were heading to Bali.”

“I know but I- I got into the cab and halfway there- I couldn’t get onto that plane. He- before the mess with the League happened, I used to daydream about the day Oliver could leave his life as the Arrow behind him. The day he was finally free. And we could- anyway, the first place we went was somewhere warm, somewhere totally different from the overcast skies of Starling. I always imagined Bali. So, I-“

“You didn’t wanna go without him.” Digg finished for her. “That explains why didn’t go to the airport, doesn’t explain why you’ve been MIA and not answering the phone for weeks.”

“When I left, I said it was because I needed space. Turns out I needed a lot more space than I thought. I didn’t tell you where I was because I was trying to put as much distance between Starling and myself as possible. and I didn’t pick up the phone, because I knew if we talked before I was ready, I’d turn around and come back without taking care of myself first.”

“I wouldn’t have tried to make you come home. None of us would’ve, we know you need time. We all- you aren’t the only one with regrets about what happened.” John said. “Where are you going after Nepal?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.” She answered. “I should go. If my math is right, you guys are gonna start patrol right around now. I don’t wanna keep you from that.”

“You aren’t." He seemed to realize that Felicity wasn't in the mood to talk more and was looking for a way to end the conversation. "I’ll talk to you soon, right?”

“Yeah, you will.” She said before hanging up. 

* * *

 

**Nanda Parbat**

Felicity hung up the phone and handed it to Oliver, who was standing next to Nyssa for the entire conversation. They wanted to make sure she didn’t say anything that might lead the team to believe something was amiss. “I think that’ll buy us at least a week before they get worried again.”

“Why did you tell him you were in Nepal?” Nyssa asked. “Nepal is not that far from Nanda Parbat.”

“It takes an almost twelve-hour flight to get from Nepal to here. It’s far enough.” She said. “And I needed to be somewhere near India, in case they tried to track my phone.”

“I thought your phone was untraceable.” Oliver said.

“They can’t use it to find my exact location, but someone of Ray’s skill level could write a program to at least be able to tell them what continent I was on. And if I keep checking in occasionally or sending pictures, they won’t get suspicious.”

“Fair enough.” Nyssa said before walking away.

Oliver stayed behind, wanting to talk to Felicity. “I’m sorry you had to do that. I hope you aren’t regretting your decision.”

“I made my choice. I picked you, and I’m a lot of things, but fickle isn’t one of them.” She answered.

“So, you have no regrets?”

“I miss coffee and Big Belly Burger, but other than that, no. No regrets.”

He didn’t entirely believe her, but he let the matter drop. Felicity now had a cover story for the team. No one would be worried about where she was for a while. The couple could try to figure things out, and Felicity could train, without any outside interruptions.

 

A week after Felicity called Starling, Oliver cornered Nyssa. He hadn’t been able to talk to Nyssa alone since the day of his and Felicity’s wedding and there were things they both needed to discuss, without anyone else present.

He started the conversation by asking how Felicity’s training was going and if the other woman thought she was ready for the next step in the process of finding her place in the League. Nyssa gave a vague answer, saying Felicity was an adept student and that she wasn’t the person to decide where things went from there. With that conversation exhausted, he turned to his real reason for wanting to speak with Nyssa.

“I’d like to believe that you won’t lie to me.” He said.

“Lying to you implies I’m either so afraid of you that I don’t want to tell you something, which I’m not, or that I care what you think of me and my opinion, which I don’t. But if you’d like me to swear not to lie, I will.”

“That’s not necessary. I’d just….like an assurance that you aren’t going to do something stupid.”

“No one has dared called me that in decades. Why don’t you stop dancing around the subject and tell me what you want to tell me.”

“I want your word you aren’t gonna use the Pit to bring Sara back.” He said. it had been bugging him for weeks, the thought that Nyssa might use the Lazarus Pit to resurrect Sara. Sara had been through enough and, even though he mourned her, needed to stay dead.

“I wouldn’t wish the consequences of that on my worst enemy, let alone someone I loved.”

“Why do you mean?” He grew slightly worried. Thea had been saved using the waters of the Lazarus Pit. Was something horrible going to happen to her?

Nyssa seemed to follow his train of thought and answered. “Thea Queen will be fine. When she was put into the Pit, she was still alive. The Pit is not meant to be used on the dead. It would bring Sara back, but she wouldn’t be the same. She wouldn’t be the woman that I fell in love with.”

“Good.” He responded. “Sara had been through enough. She deserves to be at peace.”

“Finally, something we agree on.” She said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m supposed to be training your wife and I’m sure Adila is wondering why I’m late.” She turned to walk away and nearly growled in frustration that he followed after her.

Oliver refused to feel bad for annoying Nyssa. He hadn’t gotten to spend as much time with Felicity as he would’ve liked over the last week. Rumors of Damian Darhk being seen kept him occupied.

“If you are going to observe, you can’t do what you did last time.”

“Last time wasn’t so bad.”

“She fell and you nearly bit my head off. She’s training, she needs to be pushed outside her comfort zone, not coddled. As I recall her saying.”

When he’d gotten mad at Nyssa because Felicity fell, the blonde got back to her feet and started yelling at him for getting mad at the other woman. Nyssa was doing exactly what he asked her to do, so he didn’t get to get mad at her for an accident.

Somehow, Oliver managed to watch this training session without either woman losing their temper with him. The lesson was drawing to a close when a guard entered the room.

“Forgive the intrusion, My Lord. My Ladies.”

“What is it?”

“Two scouts you sent have returned from their missions. They bring troubling news.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts? What do you think the 'troubling news' is?


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity get some surprising news.

“Two scouts you sent have returned from their missions. They bring troubling news.” The guard told Oliver.

“And what is this supposedly troubling news?” Nyssa asked.

“It appears Damien Darhk is growing his forces. We do not know where or for what purpose.”

“You don’t know where he is or what he’s gonna do, but you know he’s building an army? How exactly?” Felicity asked.

“Our spies are the best on Earth.” The guard told her. He wasn’t pleased that she was questioning him.

“Your spies are skilled enough to report that he’s building an army, but they can’t figure out where he is or what he wants? It’s awfully suspicious to me.” She rebutted. “The ‘why’ could stay a mystery, but I’d assume if they knew he was building an army, they must have some idea where that army is, or at least, where its going. It doesn’t make sense that they’d know what he’s doing before knowing where he is. Unless, of course, they know but aren’t telling you.”

All eyes turned to Oliver, who had yet to say anything. The news itself was troubling, but what Felicity had said increased his concern. She made a valid point and the possibility that something underhanded might be going on needed to be considered. They waited in complete silence for several minutes while Oliver decided what to do.

“The two scouts I sent, summon them to the throne room.” He ordered. “We will speak to them alone.” The guard bowed and left.

“So, I guess training’s gonna wait while you two go all ‘grr, tell me everything you know’ on those guys.” Felicity said. “Have fun with that, or whatever.”

“You will be joining us.”

“Um, what?”

“You proposed the idea that our followers aren’t being honest with us. You should be there when we question them.” Oliver said. “A reaction I wasn’t expecting.”

“Sorry, what he was telling me didn’t make sense, and you know how I feel about mysteries.” She shrugged.

“Enough talking, let’s get this over with.” Nyssa said.

“Uh, can I shower first? Or at least change? I’m all sweaty and you don’t smell too great either.”

“Fifteen minutes, which means Al Sahim should stay here.” The raven-haired woman said with a knowing smirk. “We wouldn’t want to leave them waiting for too long.”

He threw her a glare but didn’t follow Felicity back to their room, allowing the blonde to freshen up in peace. He didn’t want to admit it, but Nyssa was right. If he’d gone with her, they would’ve gotten sidetracked, which wouldn’t have been ideal. Fourteen minutes after Nyssa and Felicity left, they found Oliver once again. They walked towards the throne room and stopped outside one of the side doors.

“Is there like…an order or something with this?” Felicity asked. “Like, do we have to walk one step behind you? Does Nyssa outrank me because she married you first?”

Oliver snorted and Felicity thought she saw a smile. Nyssa, however, answered the question.

“No. Al Sahim outranks both of us in name only, but the three of us are essentially on the same level. It doesn’t matter who does what first or last and there’s no pomp and circumstance involved.”

They entered the room and took their seats in ornate looking chairs on a raised platform. The two assassins that had been summoned bowed when they entered. Felicity was positive she’d never get used to people bowing in her presence.

“You have news.” Oliver stated.

“Yes, My Lord. Damien Darhk’s forces are growing.” One of them said.

“But you do not know where they are amassing or why.”

“No, we were not able to-“

“How can you know his forces are growing, but not know where?” Felicity spoke up. “Wouldn’t you, or whoever told you what he’s doing, need to see his army to know it’s growing? Or have some other tangible proof? Or is your information based only on rumors?”

“They are not rumors.” He argued.

“You didn’t answer my wife’s question. How can you know what Darhk is doing, but not where he is doing it?” Oliver said. “You are not hiding something from us, are you?”

“Or relaying information you know is false.” Nyssa said. “That would not be a very smart thing to do.”

“We do not know where Darhk is, but we believe we know where his army is gathering.” The second assassin admitted.

“And why wasn’t that among the first things you said?”

“Where?” Oliver asked.

“His movements indicate he’s setting up a base in Starling City. Oliver Queen’s home.”

“Oliver Queen is dead. He is alive only in the past.” He responded before pointing to one of the assassins. “Take two more of our number. Travel to Starling City and keep me apprised of the situation. Avoid attracting any attention.” That assassin left, leaving his companion behind. “Why did you decide to keep vital information to yourself? Did a possible location not seem important to you?”

“It did.”

“It was important, but you decided not to mention it. Why?”

“As Malaq said, Starling City was Oliver Queen’s home.”

“And Oliver Queen is dead, so it shouldn’t matter.”

“You claim he is dead, but some of your actions contradict that.” The assassin answered, his eyes flickering to where Felicity was seated. “You wed his beloved.”

“I am Al Sahim. I am Ra’s al Ghul.” Oliver said, standing up from his chair and walking towards the man. “I will not be disrespected or disobeyed. And my choice of wife is not your concern.” He shouted something in Arabic and two guards came into the room and took him away.

“Do I wanna know what he just said?” Felicity asked Nyssa.

“I ordered them to take him to the dungeons. I’ll decide his fate later.” Oliver answered.

“So, Darhk is probably in Starling, which means you’re gonna have to go there. Are you ready for that?”

“Why would I not be ready? Oliver Queen-”

“Is dead, I know. Everytime his name is mentioned, you remind us. But one of the last things Oliver Queen did was tell his team about Darhk. There’s a chance you might encounter them during your mission to stop Darhk. I’m hoping you’re ready for that.”

“Let’s hope that you both are.” Nyssa said. “If the rumors are true and Darhk is, in fact, in Starling City.”

 

Three weeks later, the League received confirmation that Darhk and his followers were in Starling City, which had been renamed Star City. Adila and Ra’s al Ghul left the next day for the former home of Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now they're going back to Star City. How will it go?


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity return to Starling, and run into some familiar faces.

After League received confirmation that Darhk was in Starling City, Felicity and Oliver left Nanda Parbat with a small group of assassins to take care of things. Felicity slept for part of the flight, but woke up around the hallway point. She looked over to Oliver, who was staring out of the window with a pensive expression.

“You have your serious thinking face on.” She remarked. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“I hope this will be over quickly. The city does not hold many happy memories for me.”

“Yeah, me too.” She said with a sigh. “It’s weird though, that we’re going back there. It was never part of my plans to return.”

“Never?” He asked. When he’d heard Felicity was leaving the city, he thought her leaving was temporary. She’d spend a few months elsewhere mourning him before returning.

“Nope. Or at least, that was the plan. It hurt too much. Being there after Oliver Queen’s death, pretending I was okay. Trying to move on, trying to continue his mission.” She said. “I was gonna explore for a while, finally see the world. Then, when I was ready to be a person again, I was gonna find somewhere new, far away from Starling, and start over. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“You would’ve forgotten Oliver Queen and his impact on you so quickly?”

“I didn’t say that. I never would’ve forgotten him, or stopped mourning him. Or at least, Felicity Smoak wouldn’t have. But its possible, with enough time, and enough distance, that losing him wouldn’t hurt so much. I don’t know. We’ll never know now because now I’m Adila al Ghul, just like how we’ll never know what would’ve happened if Oliver Queen was still alive.”

They fell into silence. Hours later, an assassin told them they were nearing the airstrip where they would be landing. At the airstrip, they were met by the two scouts Oliver had sent who told them everything they knew about Darhk, his forces and what they seemed to be after.

“I know Darhk is the priority, but I doubt he’s the only person you’ve been observing.” Felicity spoke up. “Anything noteworthy on that front?”

“Nothing worth reporting.” The man answered. “Oliver Queen’s team continues to ‘fight for the city’ in his memory. Nothing groundbreaking has happened to them and they are easy enough to avoid. I doubt they are even aware of our presence.”

“Good to know. I was hoping to avoid encountering them.”

 

“Any luck?” Digg asked Ray as he, Roy and Laurel came back from patrol. Thea was recovering from a bad fall and hadn’t been allowed out on patrol that night.

“Nope. The two Ghosts the SCPD arrested-.”

“Took their cyanide pills. Of course.” Roy sighed. “You know, say what you will about the League, but they didn’t just off themselves when they got caught.”

“They never got caught.” Laurel pointed.

“Nyssa did.”

“I’m pretty sure that was intentional on her part.”

“Anyway, so we’re back at Square One?” John said. “And Felicity?”

“Phone keeps going to voicemail.”

“Dammit.”

The team knew Felicity was still on her trip to clear her head after Oliver’s death. It wasn’t completely fair to ask, but they hoped if she knew how bad things were in Star City, she might lend them a hand looking for Darhk, or maybe even come back to town. They hadn’t been about to get in touch with her though.

“I wish Ollie were here.” Thea said when it got quiet. “I feel like he’d know what to do.”

“No, he wouldn’t. He was a lot of things, but he wasn’t great at planning or finding another way. That’s how he wound up joining the League of Assassins and why Ra’s killed him. He didn’t have a plan to stop him beyond crashing the plane, which didn’t work.” Laurel said.

“And the rest of you are?” The brunette argued. “Felicity said your plan for stopping the virus and saving the city was to tamper with the plane so it wouldn’t take off, like they couldn’t just get another one. Ollie had at least sabotaged the plane so that it would crash after take-off.”

Thea had gotten tired of some people’s attitude towards Oliver recently. Right after he died, everyone spoke about him like he was a saint. As the days wore on, reality set in and they started to pick up the pieces he’d left behind, the reverence gave way to anger. She understood they were angry for what he’d done, and hurt by is actions. But Oliver was dead. He couldn’t defend himself in an argument anymore and he’d died trying to set things right. She thought that that should count for something, even if it just meant being kinder to his memory.

It looked like Ray, Laurel and John were about to argue with her, and she decided she didn’t have the energy for that. “We’re going nowhere. I’m going home.”

 

The team was about to call it a night as well when Ray told them one of Felicity’s programs had picked up on strange activity a few blocks away. The Ghosts were fighting against a group of people, but he couldn’t see who the group was because of the angle of the footage. Believing it to be citizens in danger, the team headed out to stop the fight before things turned deadly.

They were halfway to the location when Ray reported back in. “Uh, guys? I don’t think this is a random group of citizens.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because the Ghosts are kinda getting their asses kicked.” He said.

The trio picked up their speed and reached the intersection Ray had told them within a few minutes. They arrived in time to see someone dressed all in black knock the last Ghost to his knees. There were two others with the mysterious fighter.

“Last chance to answer my question.” The fighter said. The voice was male, and that was all the team was able to ascertain.

“Screw you!”

“Very well then.” The man said before drawing a sword and running it through the Ghost. The Ghost fell to the ground, dead. The man turned and locked eyes with John.

It wasn’t until he saw the three figures head-on that Digg’s suspicions were confirmed. The three people were League assassins.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He shouted

Not answering the question, one of the assassin released a smoke bomb and they disappeared. Malaq watched the Demon Head and his wife curiously as they made their way back to the League's most recent hideout. He couldn't tell from their expressions how they felt about running into Team Arrow. Neither of them spoke, but nothing about their body language indicated they were thrown off-guard by the vigilantes' presence. He briefly wondered if they had been expecting, or even hoping for a confrontation to occur.

Roy, John and Laurel went back to the foundry. They were furious the League of Assassins was back in Star City. Hadn't Ra's already done enough? They decided to hold off on telling Thea about their encounter for now, not wanting to upset her further than she already was. Roy disagreed with that decision, worried that the League had returned to kill Thea for Malcolm's crimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts?


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver faces criticism, Felicity reunites with someone and the team tries to keep up.

None of the assassins spoke until they reached the League’s safehouse. Oliver had only been the Demon Head for a short time, and in that time, very few of his men had fought directly beside him. They couldn’t judge his responses or accurately predict what his reaction to certain news might be. They knew they needed to step lightly until the League settled following the change in leadership.

The men who stayed behind in the hideout went silent when they entered the room. They were awaiting orders and wondering why Oliver, Felicity and the others returned so soon. They doubted the situation against Damien Darhk had already resolved itself.

“It appears that you underestimated the talents of Oliver Queen’s surviving comrades.” Oliver said quietly. His voice wasn’t loud, but the words made everyone stand up a little straighter. He sounded furious and that didn’t bode well for them. “Tonight was the first night we were actively looking to gather intel on Damien Darhk, and the Arrow’s team found us quite easily. Barring the possibility that one of you betrayed me and informed them, then it implies they are more aware of the situation than you thought.”

“Or you wanted them to find you.” One of the assassins muttered. Unfortunately, Oliver heard him.

“What was that?”

“I did not-.”

“Look, if you’re gonna make comments under your breath, at least have the guts to own up to what you say.” Felicity said with an eye roll. “What did you say?”

“He implied that you wanted Oliver Queen’s former teammates to discover us.” Another man said.

“Oliver Queen is dead. His teammates are a distraction we don’t need and an unnecessary headache to deal with. Now, they are aware that we are here. And something must be done about it.” Oliver said. “Until I determine what our recourse should be, do not engage with them or allow yourselves to be confronted by them.” He pointed to three assassins. “Bring me one of Darhk’s Ghosts, alive. There are questions I would like answered.” He then turned to the assassin who’d been disrespectful and muttered under his breath. “Follow me.”

Felicity stepped closer to Oliver. “Before he faces the consequences of his actions, there’s something I wanna talk to you about. It may help solve our Team Arrow problem.”

“I don’t have the energy to think about them tonight. If you have a plan, and it seems reasonable, by all means, do it.” He said.

“Cool.” She said before walking into the bedroom they were staying in to change.

 

Thea was pouring herself a glass of wine when she heard a knock at the door. She put the bottle down, grabbed a steak knife, and went to answer the door. She pulled the door open and almost dropped her weapon in shock.

“Felicity?”

“Hey Thea.” The blonde said awkwardly. “Do you mind dropping the knife?”

“What? Oh, yeah.” She said. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in-.”

“I was. I’m not actually here for long. I came back, wanted to see how it felt being back here.” She said with a sigh. “I’m not ready, it turns out. But I didn’t wanna leave without seeing how you were doing.”

“Not good. Ollie’s gone. Malcolm’s dead. And its my fault.”

“It’s not. He only ever wanted two things: he wanted to protect this city, but more than that, he wanted to protect you.” She said. “He wouldn’t want you to blame yourself.”

“But if I hadn’t gone with Malcolm-.”

“We could sit here for hours and go over every way things could’ve gone differently. You couldn’t have known how things would turn out.” Felicity said. “How has….how’s the team been?”

“Awful. Roy’s doing fine, I guess. I don’t really know Palmer, but Digg and Laurel, I’m starting to lose it with them.”

Thea went into depth about her frustrations with the team and their behavior. She then started venting about the situation with the Ghosts and HIVE. Felicity felt slightly bad for using Thea’s grief to get information, but she needed to know what Team Arrow knew. After hearing everything Thea needed to say, Felicity said she needed to go. She wished Thea well and asked her not to tell the team she’d seen her. Thea agreed.

 

Oliver stepped out of the basement of the hideout. He wiped the blood off of his hands and looked up to see his men watching him warily.

“I don’t have a problem with someone questioning my logic. If you aren’t sure the course of action I’ve chosen is the wisest, say so, but say it respectfully. I don’t tolerate those who muttered under their breath or voice their opinions when they believe I can’t hear. Does anyone else have something they wish to say?” He said. No one spoke. “That’s what I thought. Where is Adila?”

“She left. She said Adila al Ghul couldn’t get the information we need, but someone else could. Amir followed her.” One of the assassins said.

He knew that meant. Felicity Smoak could get the information. He wondered what she was up to and why she hadn’t told him the basic details of her plan. He hoped she didn’t go see the team, as that would just cause an unnecessary headache.

 

“The League is back.” Digg said.

“We heard you the first three times you said it.” Roy remarked. “And we were all there, we saw them.”

“Why are they back?” Laurel asked. “What are they doing here?”

“They didn’t seem to be in a sharing mood to me. What do we do?”

Digg let out a sigh. He had no idea what to do. Oliver was the one who’d spent weeks with these people. Sara and Malcolm were the ones who knew how they operated, how Ra’s thought. Everyone who would be helpful in this situation was dead and hadn’t told them anything they could really use.

“I can try Nyssa.” Laurel suggested.

“You really think she’s gonna tell you anything? That Ra’s is gonna let her tell you anything?” Roy asked.

“It’s worth a shot, okay? If I ask, we at least tried to get an answer out of the League. it’s better than sitting here, doing nothing.”

“I’ll try Felicity.” Palmer said.

“What’s that gonna do? She left.”

“Like Laurel said, its worth a shot. Them returning might be what it takes for her to come back.” He answered.

“We’re overlooking a kinda big problem here: Thea.” Roy pointed out.

“We agreed not to tell her right away.”

“I don’t agree with that, but I was outvoted.” He reminded them. “No, I mean what if they’re here for Thea. Malcolm was her father, Oliver was her brother and Ra’s doesn’t strike me as the type to kill Malcolm and be satisfied, he probably wants everyone related to him dead. Same with Oliver.”

“We’ll keep her safe.”

“We couldn’t do that before, and that was with Oliver and Malcolm both here.” Roy said. "I don't think we're going to do any better without them."

"Uh, guys?" Palmer said, looking at his screen.

"What?"

"There's two League members outside of Thea's loft. As we speak."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts?  
> I promise the next update won't be so late.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy rushes to help Thea, and Felicity deals with an accusation aimed at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is super late. I'm sorry.

“Uh, guys?” Palmer said as Laurel, Digg and Roy argued.

“What?”

“There’s two League members outside of Thea’s loft. As we speak.”

“What do you mean?” Roy asked.

“I mean, I was searching the city security cameras to find out where those League members may have run off it, and I found two of them on the roof of the building opposite Thea’s.”

“What are they doing?”

“Nothing. They haven’t moved. They’re just standing there, watching the building.” He answered.

Roy put his hood back on and walked towards the exit. “I’m gonna go see her. Tell me if they move, breathe, anything, before I get there.” He turned to look at Laurel and Digg. “Remind me why we didn’t tell Thea the League was here?”

They both opened their mouths to argue, but before they had a chance to say anything, he scoffed and stormed out.

 

Meanwhile, inside Thea’s loft, Felicity was getting ready to leave. She’d gotten as much information from Thea about the Ghosts and HIVE’s operations. She felt bad for using Thea, but justified it by telling herself that her visit also let her and Thea both get a few things off of their chest regarding Oliver’s “death” and the team’s response. Thea walked her over to the door.

“Can you- I hate to ask this, but could you not tell the team I was here? I just- I’m not ready for this, being back here and I don’t want them to think me visiting is the same as me coming back. Does that make sense?”

“It does, and no worries.” She said.

The blonde suddenly felt the urge to hug Thea, which she did. “I know we weren’t exactly close but if you ever need to talk, give me a call, okay? I can’t race over, but I can listen.”

“I might take you up on that.” She responded with a small smile.

She walked into the hallway and Thea shut the door behind her. Shortly after Felicity exited, a League member stepped out of the stairwell. Thankfully, he wasn’t wearing his armor and not drawing attention to himself. She knew he’d followed her there, just as she knew there were two assassins on the roof across the street, watching the building.

“Have you learned what you needed to learn, my lady?” He asked.

“Not everything, but I was able to learn enough.”

“That’s fortunate. We should leave immediately.”

“What’s the rush?”

“It appears the two men stationed outside weren’t as camouflaged as they believed. They were spotted by the remnants of the Arrow’s team and Roy Harper is on his way.”

“To fight them or to ensure Thea Queen’s safety?”

“I don’t know. In either case, it would be best if none of us were here when he arrives, particularly you.” He said.

Leading her towards the exit. She didn’t see any flaw in his logic, so she left the building. They narrowly avoided running into Roy as they walked out of the lobby. His only focus was Thea, so he didn’t stop to observe his surroundings as much as he should’ve.

“Astounding.” Felicity said after they were in the clear. “I can’t remember if he was that badly trained or merely forgotten what he was taught about remaining vigilant and paying attention to his surroundings.” She always thought Oliver had a sixth sense about knowing what was happening around him, and as far as she remembered, he trained Roy to be just as attuned.

“If I may speak freely, it’s a little of both.” The assassin said. “Oliver Queen was vigilant, but he was not the most vigilant enemy we faced. And victory tends to lead to one relaxing and believing danger to have passed.”

“They didn’t win though.”

“They survived fighting against the League of Assassins, which is more than most can say, and Star City had been rather quiet until Darhk came here.”

 

Roy was running up the stairs, two at a time, desperate to get to Thea. He was so focused on getting to her before anything could happen that his brain didn’t register Palmer’s update until a few seconds later.

“Sorry, repeat that.” Roy said into his comm unit.

“I said, the assassins have left.”

“When did they leave?”

“Right after you ran into the building.” He answered.

“You’re saying Roy scared them off?” Laurel asked in the background.

“Or maybe they were just there to send a message, which they think has been made clear.” Digg suggested. “We stay out of their way and they’ll leave us in peace.”

Laurel scoffed. “Like they believe in peace. They wanted to intimidate us, and we fell for it.”

Roy finally made it to the top floor and let himself into Thea’s loft with the key he had. “You know, most people at least knock before letting themselves in.” Thea said from her spot on the sofa.

Roy muttered out an apology as he strolled over to the large picture window and began closing the curtains. He made sure not a single sliver of the outside could be seen before moving over to the next window.

“You wanna explain what you’re doing?”

“The League’s here.” He blurted out.

“What?”

“The League is here. We ran into a few assassins after you went home. Worse, they were here, as in, right across the street.” He said. “They were just out there, watching you.”

“You ran into them earlier? Meaning when I called you, you already knew they were here, and didn’t tell me.” She said.

“I- the team didn’t want to tell you yet. They didn’t want to stress you out or make you worry.”

“I deserved to know! The League killed my brother. They killed my biological father. They could be here to kill me. How does keeping me in the dark help anyone except them?”

“I don’t know. I wanted to tell you, but I got outvoted.”

She scoffed. “You know, we might be equals, but not everything needs to be put to vote.”

 

Felicity made it back to the League hideout. She entered the room Oliver was using as a meeting room and all eyes turned to her. Everyone except Oliver’s, that is.

“Now that Lady Adila has returned, I propose we simply ask her and allow her to explain.” One assassin said, glaring at another.

“Where were you?” The other one asked.

“Don’t talk to me in that tone.” She snapped. “I do not owe you any explanation.”

“Yes, you do. You went to speak with our enemy. That is treason. Would you like to admit to it or would you like to continue to waste our time and deny what we all know to be true?”

“And what is it that you think is true?” She challenged.

“That you are preparing to betray us and join the late Oliver Queen’s allies.”

“I’m not.” She said with a tone of finality.

“Why did you visit the home of Thea Queen?” Oliver asked, speaking for the first time. His voice was soft, but she could tell he wasn’t happy with her course of action. They’d argue about it later, but for now, he needed to keep up appearances as Ra’s al Ghul.

“I was wondering that as well.” The same assassin continued. “You claim you have no allegiance to that group, yet you sought one of them out. An odd thing to do, unless you’ve decided you wish to abandon the oaths you swore and defect.”

“I’m not defecting. I made my decision to join the League of Assassins, I’m not second-guessing that choice or changing my mind. You wanna know why I went there? To get information about our enemy, our real enemy.” She said. “We did not know what the Arrow’s team knew. Now, we do. That was not information you could learn yourselves, since they view us as their enemy due to what happened during Al Sahim’s ascension. Adila al Ghul couldn’t speak with Thea Queen, but Felicity Smoak could.”

“Felicity Smoak is dead.” The assassin stated.

“Yes, she is. But imitating her isn’t difficult for me.”

“I have heard enough.” Oliver said, standing up. He turned to the assassin that had demanded answers from Felicity. “I should execute you for your behavior today, for the baseless accusations you spewed when Adila wasn’t here to challenge them. You accused my wife of treason, a crime that is punishable by death, with no evidence besides knowing she went to a particular location.” He paused and turned to a different assassin. “Take him downstairs and keep him under guard. I’ll decide his fate tomorrow.”

The assassin was dragged downstairs. The others dispersed. Oliver walked into the bedroom he and Felicity were using.

“What were you able to learn?” He asked Felicity.

“Is that the first question you really want to ask?” She countered. “Because I have the feeling the ghost of Oliver Queen might want to ask something else instead.”

He stared at her for several minutes. Oliver Queen was dead. He was alive only in the past. Yet, like his love for Felicity, there were still remnants of his brotherly love for Thea. It wasn’t quite as strong as it once was, thanks to her allegiance to Malcolm Merlyn, but it was still there. “I assume if she was in a bad place, or something terrible had happened, you would tell me without prompting. I trust she is well?”

“As well as she can be, given what she lost a few months ago.” She answered. “And frustrated with her allies.”

“Really?” Strife among the team could work in the League’s favor. “Do elaborate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Thoughts? Theories?

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts?


End file.
